Education Law

Spring is a popular time for field trips.  Classes seem to go everywhere these days: musuems, farms, amusement parks, and historical sites are just a few of the class trips planned this season. 

Prior to most, if not all, field trips, parents are asked to sign a permission slip that allows the school to take the child off of school grounds .  The permission slip usually includes a clause that the school is not responsible if the child gets hurt.

So, are these trips safe?  Should you sign the permission slip?

The answer depends on your individual child and the particular trip in question but here are some things to consider when you are deciding whether to sign the permission slip and to allow your child to participate in the class trip:

• How will the children be transported?  Does the transportation meet legal and safety requirements for the child’s age?  If other parents are driving, how will the school ensure that the children are properly restrained in each car?
• What will be the adult to student ratio?  How will things like bathroom trips be handled?
• Will safety precautions for the particular trip be reviewed with the students prior to the trip?
• Has the school gone on this trip before?  Have there been any accidents?
• How will the school make sure that all of the children are accounted for at all times and in particular at the end of the trip so no child is left behind?

If you are comfortable with the school’s answers and your child’s own sense of responsiblity then by all means allow your child to participate in these fun school trips.   Also, you should know that if the school does something intentional or grossly negligent you may still attempt to sue the district for harm to your child, even if you sign the consent form. 

Yet, in the vast majority of trips that run in the United States every year each child comes back unharmed and better for the experience of the class trip.

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